I'm glad people spoke up about wanting this group.

I'm sure we have members who will want to contribute and other who will benefit.

I just pushed it along a little.

When I was a kid I was told I had character flaws. There was no thinking then about ADHD. To this day my actions seem like character flaws to most people.
The hardest thing for me was to learn to accept myself as I am and to learn coping mechanisms. I am not making excuses but I take pride in that I am disabled but I don't let that stop me from doing the things I want to do.
My biggest enemy in that sense is my mother-in-law who has no understanding of mental illness and has over the years said some pretty nasty and hurtful things to me. I finally had it with her and told her so after 30 years of putting up with her shit.
So I am looking forward to listening to others.

She wasn't diagnosed until her early 60s, when I finally took off my daughter cap and put on my teacher cap and realized what she, and I, had been dealing with for so many years. It's made a huge difference to her.

I have two daughters with ADD/ADHD. It has been an interesting experience

Have been dealing with ADD since I was a youngster. I do my best to avoid pills of any kind.

I was using pills for 3 years and was sick of not being able to think without the medication...

Not letting the pills destroy my ability to think independently

What medication were you taking?

I was put on Ritalin at 4, which made me suicidal at the age of 9, then was placed on zylert and bounced around from pill to pill till at the age of 12 I took myself off of them, nobody noticed I wasn't taking them and it made no change to my ability, or lack there of to pay attention in class. What I did gain back was a memory, the vast majority of my childhood outside of the summers when I wasn't on the pills are completely gone. I can remember stuff from my early childhood right up to the day I was tested and started the pills, but that in between is gone.

To this day I refuse to take pills for anything and have a deep distrust of doctors, I won't even take pain meds unless I'm in so much pain I have no choice, even telling an ER nurse to either not numb me up for stitches or let me do it myself for a 6" gash on my leg and resetting a broken arm myself rather then go to the doctor. On the plus side I've built up a really good pain tolerance threshold. Also, before you ash, the arm is perfectly straight, I wasn't going to do that twice if I didn't have to.

in November last year, at age 47. It totally made sense, but it has been hard dealing with a life of regrets too. I am happy to hear of this group.

but I have had to leave the what if's behind and focus on the present. However, my experience helped me recognize the signs in my own son and I am grateful to be able to help him now.

How did you stop the what ifs? They seem to just pop up in my mind randomly.

my mother had bigger fish to fry. I do wish the school had been able to help but who knows if they were even qualified to make a determination. I knew one boy on Ritalin and that was it.

I think college could have been a different story if I had medication. I used caffeine instead and made do.

Now, as a grown woman, I forgive myself sometimes now that I know what I'm dealing with.